Alienware purchase (refurb)

[Soulviper]

hello all ! Looking at a good computer (premade) and a dell (my dad is letting me borrow that credit card)(within reason) to purchase a gaming desktop. At first i wanted the 17" laptop with 3d, but not sure if a laptop is that good for fps. (i have around 800 saved up.. and i think i can save alittle more, so the laptops look way cool!)
Looking forward to playing mw3, bf3, kotr, wow. and any other bad azz games coming out in the next few months with a good system.
I am putting my limit to around 2500. maybe a little more if i see a system i like. Also looking at the refurb ones, cause thats all my house had ever had..(we have, 4 dells and all refrubs and they still are working)

the question i have (questions!) what processor? i see i7 and did some reading (he makes me look things up) and i see the extreme ones. should i go for something like that. or older? memory i see is, 1300 -1666(?) does it really matter? the video card, the sli looks ok. why do i think it could be a hassle downt the road. i dont want to make this a long post, but have to many questions. And still getting the lingo right helps!

i'll end it there for now. thanks for your help.

(oh,i know i should build it (looks fun) and my dad says when he upgrades his, we can work on that together. ) (that way mom can get mad at him for blowing up the house)

 

[mnewsham]

Okay you can get the Alienware Aurora R3 (desktop) from the Dell outlet I would get the one with the i7-2600, and the GTX 580 GPU.

That will cost ~1,350 bucks.

OR you can build this:

CD/DVD
Case
HDD
2x GPU
PSU
RAM
Motherboard
CPU
OS
HSF

Total: $1,319.39


So for about the same price you get about 30-40% more gaming performance as seen here.

Building the computer isnt hard and I have found is actually a really good experience. If you have any questions feel free to ask here or send me a PM.

 

[mvbighead]

Gotta agree with mnewsham. When you start looking for a performance PC, your best bet is building it yourself. Otherwise, Dell (and others) charge a premium for performance parts.

It is extremely hard to beat Dell for a plain old desktop, but if you're serious about gaming, strongly consider mnewsham's advice.

 

[Soulviper]

thanks for the suggestion. Not in a rush to make my own. I kinda like the look of those desktops!

i plan on keeping this computer for some time. does having the extreme processors do me any good? or the higher memory??

more questions to come!

 

[mvbighead]

Not sure what you mean by that... do you mean that you'd rather not try?

While I can understand the fear that comes with being a first time builder, you have played with Legos before right? It's about the same thing. (A little more tricky.)

As mnewsham pointed out, you can get a LOT more of a gaming system if you went that route.

 

[Soulviper]

i suppose i am asking if i decided to buy a computer premade, what the differences besides cost mean. how much better is 6 cores/12 threads vs 4 cores/8 threads? how much is of a difference between i5 2600 vs i7 990 is there, would i even notice?

and maybe it this stage not want to put one together. also its for knowledge then anything else. Maybe i will make one down the road and try to overclock things.. but i need to (for myself) understand some basic reasons that i am reading on these boards. so not trying isnt really the question. or the desire not to.
just because i can put together a carburetor doesn't automatically assume that since i can, that you can. So i am enjoying reading alot of these forum posts and am amazed at the amount of knowledge that is here, but honestly, i didnt expect to need a flamesuit.
i understand its cheaper, easier and way more fullfilling to put your own together. If i elect to do so down the road, i know where to go.

thanks again for your help!

 

[DesiPower]

OK, so there are a lot of places that you are going wrong. For example, you dont go underground and post using IRC about how awesome Norton Internet security is against hackers...

Its more about bang for the buck and not about being cheaper, people here post their builds that cost 2, 3k upwards, kind of shit Alienware will probably come out with next year... secondly building a gaming machine is not one time deal, its a continuous investment, there is nothing called future proofing, no matter what you buy, if you want to play the latest games this time next year you will have to upgrade. That's the reason no one here recommends putting a lot of money upfront, its not about the cost.

You will be fine with Alienware, its will last you years to come, but if you want to be serious about gaming, that will be a very unintelligent thing to do. If you want to do social gaming for the most part and experiment with real gaming for a while Alienware will be perfect. year or so down the line, it will be still a nice comp and give the latest Mac's a good run for their money...

In a nutshell above is what the difference between building your one comp and getting Alienware is. From what it seems you are not into building your own kind of guy... I say stick with Alienware, there is no harm.

And lastly, welcome to the forum and enjoy your stay, its a very interesting place and we are always here to help you, dont hesitate to ask more questions...

Here is some competitive analysis between i5 and i7

You can do more research by changing the parameters, AT has some awesome tools and articles

 

[Soulviper]

Thanks for the assistance. i suppose next time, i'll just ask the question(s). and wow.. the i5 seems to be just as fast as the i7 in games just not in application programs. (ya.. like i want to do speadsheets!)

i'll look around more and try to be more specific in my questions. i see posts on people asking about ibuypower or the other ones and in those posts people say, dont get that and this is just as good.. thats where the real info comes into and moreso, the questions.

thanks!

 

[T_Yamamoto]

I would go with building your own computer, so you know that YOU made it and YOU chose the parts and YOU put your own blood and tears into it. the SATISFACTION at the end is awesome

 

[mfenn]

OK, so there are a lot of places that you are going wrong. For example, you dont go underground and post using IRC about how awesome Norton Internet security is against hackers...

Its more about bang for the buck and not about being cheaper, people here post their builds that cost 2, 3k upwards, kind of shit Alienware will probably come out with next year... secondly building a gaming machine is not one time deal, its a continuous investment, there is nothing called future proofing, no matter what you buy, if you want to play the latest games this time next year you will have to upgrade. That's the reason no one here recommends putting a lot of money upfront, its not about the cost.

You will be fine with Alienware, its will last you years to come, but if you want to be serious about gaming, that will be a very unintelligent thing to do. If you want to do social gaming for the most part and experiment with real gaming for a while Alienware will be perfect. year or so down the line, it will be still a nice comp and give the latest Mac's a good run for their money...

In a nutshell above is what the difference between building your one comp and getting Alienware is. From what it seems you are not into building your own kind of guy... I say stick with Alienware, there is no harm.

And lastly, welcome to the forum and enjoy your stay, its a very interesting place and we are always here to help you, dont hesitate to ask more questions...

Here is some competitive analysis between i5 and i7

You can do more research by changing the parameters, AT has some awesome tools and articles

Good summation!

OP, it sounds like your dad has some experience with upgrading computers, so I'd say to give mnewsham's build a whirl and learn something in the process. By the way, that NZXT case looks pretty much the same as the current Alienware one.

 

[beany323]

hi soul. In looking over your request and i was also in the same boat as you once.

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us.../compare-intel-processors.html?select=desktop

is a good idea of the various proc's. available. I think that the general idea is for gaming you dont need 6 cores or 12 threads. the speed is important and i think the one recommended is the fastest.

i also think building a pc would be enlightening and would help in learning more, but if your set on the alienware, no worries.

i would say that the processor is probably one of the items that you shouldn't skimp on but not overpay for something you wont use. i.e the cores. i would say if the cost is close from one to another maybe. (like the 990extreme and the 980ex, the only difference is the speed)

Memory you can buy probably cheaper online then at dell.

the video card choices you have are radeon and nvida. radeon's allow more then one monitor and nvidias allow you to run 3d. i belive you can run more then one now, but not sure. Most of the recommended video cards are the radeons. some run hotter and sometimes upgrading from one series to the next can mean the differnce between 1-6 plug or 2 6plug power connectors. I thnk the alienware come with decent power supplies.

Excuse any basic mistakes i make. i am by far not that experienced as most of the people here. i also have bought dells in the past and never had any issues. *knockonwood*.
i have had my xps 720 for like 4 years? and just recently the old 8800 series vc went out.

i'll try to help answer any questions you have. also look at the 1000k rigs and 4000 rigs builds in these forums. you can learn allot from the comments made.

/gl

 

[beany323]

lol.. i just thought i would add this link:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2177408

 

[beany323]

Okay you can get the Alienware Aurora R3 (desktop) from the Dell outlet I would get the one with the i7-2600, and the GTX 580 GPU.

That will cost ~1,350 bucks.

OR you can build this:

CD/DVD
Case
HDD
2x GPU
PSU
RAM
Motherboard
CPU
OS
HSF

Total: $1,319.39


So for about the same price you get about 30-40% more gaming performance as seen here.

Building the computer isnt hard and I have found is actually a really good experience. If you have any questions feel free to ask here or send me a PM.

wow, i do like that build. i didnt see the 2 vc's. mb seems like a cheap but good one. if you were to upgrade slightly.. what would you increase...thanks!

 

[mnewsham]

wow, i do like that build. i didnt see the 2 vc's. mb seems like a cheap but good one. if you were to upgrade slightly.. what would you increase...thanks!

I would add an SSD to that, 120GB like this one.

 

[FearoftheNight]

hmm....my sig w/ monitor and hardware costed less than 800

 

[Soulviper]

thanks all for the help. While not to keen on the idea of building one, i am becoming more knowledgeable on whats what.

The link to the intel processors is a big help. from what i read, i dont need 6 cores. i would like more cache but to get 12 is more then i need, maybe for gaming. Looking forward to having all the eye candy on the new games coming out.

lots to learn and i thank you all. i have some time to save up more cash so thats a good thing!